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So this was a dialogue and exposition heavy issue. That''s not necessarily a bad thing but I'm still not quite sure what the hell is going on. We get a little more of our leads past and see a huge fight between Riichards/Stark and Leonid's father.

Like I said earlier, I have no idea where the hell this is going but its damn pretty to look at. All in all it's a strong issue but I'm not sure the series is really gaining ground at this point.

SHIELD #2I enjoyed the first issue of this series despite having to review the black and white variant so it was pretty nice to have the color version this time and the art looked just amazing. I also really enjoyed the book itself, it started off with some great ideas, I love Da Vinci as a super hero and founding member of SHIELD. Issue 2 hit a bit of a snag I thought but not enough to deter me from picking up the next issue, I didn't mind the text only page which (I am sure this has been said before already) reminded me of Hickman's indie stuff. I also like seeing the senior Stark and Richards as part of early SHIELD, I think Jonathon Hickman has some grand ideas coming and with Dustin Weaver on the art I don't see how this can't become a classic series... but this issue here was filled with a lot of huhwha? that will probably make sense as we read on but I am scoring this one lower than issue 1.
STORY - 7

There's a reason we haven't done a lot of mid-arc issues over the years. First issues provide the setup, final issues provide the climax, second issues provide the exposition. Not that there's anything wrong with exposition, it has to happen after all, it's just not always the most exciting part of the story. I still had a lot of fun reading this though, S.H.I.E.L.D. is still Hickman being Hickman. I could have done with another page or five of the text block, but it's Marvel and Marvel's audience is never going to embrace Hickman's creator owned style of storytelling so I guess I'll take what I can get. This issue I think worked best in the scenes with Leonid and Da Vinci, but the rest wasn't much of a step down. I'm very much looking forward to this being collected and getting a chance to read the full story instead of the single issue installments.

On art, Weaver and Strain continue their strong collaboration. I like that they're continuing to try new things and hope that they will continue to evolve as the series progresses.

I think both issues were astonishingly good comics, although I can see why people used to having everything spelled out don't like it. It's nothing like regular comics and probably the weirdest Marvel book since Omega.

Eli Katz wrote:I think it's cool that Marvel is taking real storytelling risks. I hope it takes more of them. I just don't think this project works.

Maybe, as the story unfolds, the elements that I found problematic will end up making a lot more sense than they do now.

Let me know. I suspect this book will read much better collected.

I think this issue is suffering from middle child syndrome. It's dense enough that you can't just drop in without reading the first issue, and it's setting stuff up that probably won't make sense until the end of the story arc. Thus, the issue in isolation is just buzzwords and exposition without much plot or action (aside from the sweet fight between the Dark Man and the elder Stark and Richards).

I really liked the first issue, but this one didn't give me enough to grab onto. Leonardo's dialogue certainly sounded cool, but we don't have enough information at this stage to make sense of it. I did like the page of nothing but dialogue; the characters were in the dark so it made sense to do it that way rather than illustrating a page of dimly lit or unlit panels with word balloons. It also drew your attention to what was being said, rather than what was being shown.

While I certainly enjoyed the production of the issue, I cannot say whether I actually enjoyed reading it as a single issue comic book. It's almost impossible to judge something like this in isolation. I guess I will have to take that into account when I score the book. Right now I see a ton of potential, but we have all seen how quickly that can turn to disaster (I'm looking at you Matrix trilogy!).

Zero wrote:I think both issues were astonishingly good comics, although I can see why people used to having everything spelled out don't like it. It's nothing like regular comics and probably the weirdest Marvel book since Omega.

Yeah, it's nothing like regular superhero comics. But it has many similarities with post modern novels. The dialogue page is right out of William S. Burroughs, who used this technique 50 years ago to disrupt his novels.

I don't think it's an especially effective storytelling device. It draws attention to itself and diminishes the overall story.

But I'd love to see why some of you guys think the dialogue page is so effective.

Zero wrote:I think both issues were astonishingly good comics, although I can see why people used to having everything spelled out don't like it. It's nothing like regular comics and probably the weirdest Marvel book since Omega.

It has nothing to do with being spelled out don't even try to play the "You have to be an idiot not to understand this comic" card. There was non linear story telling with lots of information and no exposition. Characters have been introduced with no reason or rhyme. I have a feeling this will read much better in trade and if it doesn't then it's a piece of shit.

doombug wrote:You really are the george carlin of the outhouse. that's fucking hilarious.

doombug wrote:and yeah, Yoni called it.

I feel like a condemned building with a brand new flag pole.- Les Paul

This series is perfect. The way Hickman is slowly revealing the history of the Marvel U is something to behold. The single page of only text dialogue was great and amazing to see in a Marvel book of all places. The art is fantastic as always.